Resource allocation patterns for scheduling services in a wireless network

ABSTRACT

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques for determination, selection, configuration, and/or indication of resource allocation patterns for scheduling services, such as reliable low-latency services (e.g., ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC)) and other services in a wireless network, such as new radio (NR) (e.g., a 5G network). A method of wireless communication by a user equipment (UE) is provided. The method generally includes determining a resource allocation pattern that defines resources, from a plurality of configured resource allocation patterns, wherein at least one of the plurality of configured resource allocation patterns comprises a plurality of resource elements with at least a first resource element associated with a first resource allocation restriction and at least a second resource element associated with a second resource allocation restriction and communicating based on the determined resource allocation pattern.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION & PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/617,507, filed Jun. 8, 2017, which claims benefit of andpriority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/399,049, filed Sep. 23,2016, which are herein incorporated by reference in their entireties forall applicable purposes.

BACKGROUND Field of the Disclosure

Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wirelesscommunications systems, and more particularly, to resource allocationpatterns for scheduling services, such as reliable low-latency services(e.g., ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC)) and otherservices, in a wireless network, such as new radio (NR) (e.g., a 5Gnetwork).

Description of Related Art

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustelecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging,and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employmultiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication withmultiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth,transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access technologies include3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE)systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, code division multiple access(CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency divisionmultiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous codedivision multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

A wireless communication network may include a number of BSs that cansupport communication for a number of wireless devices. Wireless devicesmay include user equipments (UEs). Machine type communications (MTC) mayrefer to communication involving at least one remote device on at leastone end of the communication and may include forms of data communicationwhich involve one or more entities that do not necessarily need humaninteraction. MTC UEs may include UEs that are capable of MTCcommunications with MTC servers and/or other MTC devices through PublicLand Mobile Networks (PLMN), for example.

In an NR or 5G networks, the wireless multiple access communicationsystem may include a number of distributed units (e.g., edge units(EUs), edge nodes (ENs), radio heads (RHs), smart radio heads (SRHs),transmission reception points (TRPs), etc.) in communication with anumber of central units (e.g., CU, central nodes (CNs), access nodecontrollers (ANCs), etc.), where a set of one or more distributed units(DUs), in communication with a CU, may define an access node (e.g., AN,NR BS, NR NB, 5G NB, network node, gNB, access point (AP), transmissionreception point (TRP), etc.). A BS or DU may communicate with a set ofUEs on downlink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a BS or to a UE)and uplink channels (e.g., for transmissions from a UE to a BS or DU).

These multiple access technologies have been adopted in varioustelecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enablesdifferent wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national,regional, and even global level. NR (e.g., 5G radio access) is anexample of an emerging telecommunication standard. NR is a set ofenhancements to the LTE mobile standard promulgated by 3GPP. NR isdesigned to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improvingspectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use ofnew spectrum, and better integrating with other open standards usingOFDMA with a cyclic prefix (CP) on the downlink (DL) and on the uplink(UL) as well as support beamforming, MIMO antenna technology, andcarrier aggregation.

However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues toincrease, there exists a need for further improvements in LTE and NRtechnology. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to othermulti-access technologies and the telecommunication standards thatemploy these technologies.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The systems, methods, and devices of the disclosure each have severalaspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirableattributes. Without limiting the scope of this disclosure as expressedby the claims which follow, some features will now be discussed briefly.After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading thesection entitled “Detailed Description” one will understand how thefeatures of this disclosure provide advantages that include improvedcommunications between access points and stations in a wireless network.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to methodsand apparatus for resource allocation patterns for scheduling services,such as reliable low-latency services (e.g., ultra-reliable low-latencycommunications (URLLC) and other services, in a wireless network, suchas new radio (NR) (e.g., a 5G network).

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wirelesscommunication that may be performed, for example, by a user equipment(UE). The method generally includes determining a resource allocationpattern that defines resources, from a plurality of configured resourceallocation patterns, wherein at least one of the plurality of configuredresource allocation patterns comprises a plurality of resource elementswith at least a first resource element associated with a first resourceallocation restriction and at least a second resource element associatedwith a second resource allocation restriction and communicating based onthe determined resource allocation pattern.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forwireless communication, such as a UE. The apparatus generally includesmeans for determining a resource allocation pattern that definesresources, from a plurality of configured resource allocation patterns,wherein at least one of the plurality of configured resource allocationpatterns comprises a plurality of resource elements with at least afirst resource element associated with a first resource allocationrestriction and at least a second resource element associated with asecond resource allocation restriction, and means for communicatingbased on the determined resource allocation pattern.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forwireless communication, such as a UE. The apparatus generally includesat least one processor coupled with a memory and configured to determinea resource allocation pattern that defines resources, from a pluralityof configured resource allocation patterns, wherein at least one of theplurality of configured resource allocation patterns comprises aplurality of resource elements with at least a first resource elementassociated with a first resource allocation restriction and at least asecond resource element associated with a second resource allocationrestriction, and a transceiver configured to communicate based on thedetermined resource allocation pattern.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer readablemedium having computer executable code stored thereon for wirelesscommunications by a UE. The code generally includes code for determininga resource allocation pattern that defines resources, from a pluralityof configured resource allocation patterns, wherein at least one of theplurality of configured resource allocation patterns comprises aplurality of resource elements with at least a first resource elementassociated with a first resource allocation restriction and at least asecond resource element associated with a second resource allocationrestriction, and code for communicating based on the determined resourceallocation pattern.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method for wirelesscommunication that may be performed, for example, by a base station(BS). The method generally includes determining a resource allocationpattern, from a plurality of resource allocation patterns configured fora UE, that defines resources for communicating, wherein at least one ofthe plurality of configured resource allocation patterns comprises aplurality of resource elements with at least a first resource elementassociated with a first resource allocation restriction and at least asecond resource element associated with a second resource allocationrestriction; providing an indication to the UE of the resourceallocation pattern to use for communicating; and communicating based onthe determined resource allocation pattern.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forwireless communication, such as a BS. The apparatus generally includesmeans for determining a resource allocation pattern, from a plurality ofresource allocation patterns configured for a UE, that defines resourcesfor communicating, wherein at least one of the plurality of configuredresource allocation patterns comprises a plurality of resource elementswith at least a first resource element associated with a first resourceallocation restriction and at least a second resource element associatedwith a second resource allocation restriction; means for providing anindication to the UE of the resource allocation pattern to use forcommunicating; and means for communicating based on the determinedresource allocation pattern

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide an apparatus forwireless communication, such as a BS. The apparatus generally includesat least one processor coupled with a memory and configured to determinea resource allocation pattern, from a plurality of configured resourceallocation patterns for a UE, that defines resources for communicating,wherein at least one of the plurality of configured resource allocationpatterns comprises a plurality of resource elements with at least afirst resource element associated with a first resource allocationrestriction and at least a second resource element associated with asecond resource allocation restriction; and a transceiver configured toprovide an indication to the UE of the resource allocation pattern touse for communicating and communicate based on the determined resourceallocation pattern.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a computer readablemedium having computer executable code stored thereon for wirelesscommunications by a UE. The code generally includes code for determininga resource allocation pattern, from a plurality of resource allocationpatterns configured for a UE, that defines resources for communicating,wherein at least one of the plurality of configured resource allocationpatterns comprises a plurality of resource elements with at least afirst resource element associated with a first resource allocationrestriction and at least a second resource element associated with asecond resource allocation restriction; code for providing an indicationto the UE of the resource allocation pattern to use for communicating;and code for communicating based on the determined resource allocationpattern

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreaspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative featuresof the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspectsmay be employed, and this description is intended to include all suchaspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above-recited features of the presentdisclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description,briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to aspects, some ofwhich are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted,however, that the appended drawings illustrate only certain typicalaspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be consideredlimiting of its scope, for the description may admit to other equallyeffective aspects.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating an example wirelesscommunication system, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram conceptually illustrating a design of anexample base station (BS) and user equipment (UE), in accordance withcertain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example logical architecture of a distributedradio access network (RAN), in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example physical architecture of a distributedRAN, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a downlink-centric slot,in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an uplink-centric slot,in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating example operations for wirelesscommunications by a UE, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating example operations for wirelesscommunications by a BS, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 9 , FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B illustrate example ON/OFF resourceallocation patterns at a symbol level granularity, in accordance withcertain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 and FIG. 10A illustrate example resource allocation patternsindicating power levels for symbols, in accordance with certain aspectsof the present disclosure.

FIG. 10B illustrates an example resource allocation pattern indicatingpower levels for symbols and tones within a symbol, in accordance withcertain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example resource allocation pattern at a resourceblock level granularity, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one aspectmay be beneficially utilized on other aspects without specificrecitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure provide apparatus, methods, processingsystems, and computer program products for new radio (NR) (new radioaccess technology or 5G technology). NR may support various wirelesscommunication services, such as Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB)targeting wide bandwidth (e.g. 80 MHz beyond), millimeter wave (mmW)targeting high carrier frequency (e.g. 60 GHz), massive MTC (mMTC)targeting non-backward compatible MTC techniques, and/or missioncritical targeting ultra reliable low latency communications (URLLC).

Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques and apparatus forperforming resource allocation for NR. For example, techniques areprovided for resource allocation patterns for scheduling services, suchthat other services (e.g., URLLC) are protected.

Various aspects of the disclosure are described more fully hereinafterwith reference to the accompanying drawings. This disclosure may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to any specific structure or function presented throughoutthis disclosure. Rather, these aspects are provided so that thisdisclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey thescope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Based on theteachings herein one skilled in the art should appreciate that the scopeof the disclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the disclosuredisclosed herein, whether implemented independently of or combined withany other aspect of the disclosure. For example, an apparatus may beimplemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspectsset forth herein. In addition, the scope of the disclosure is intendedto cover such an apparatus or method which is practiced using otherstructure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition toor other than the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. Itshould be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed hereinmay be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary”is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous overother aspects.

Although particular aspects are described herein, many variations andpermutations of these aspects fall within the scope of the disclosure.Although some benefits and advantages of the preferred aspects arementioned, the scope of the disclosure is not intended to be limited toparticular benefits, uses, or objectives. Rather, aspects of thedisclosure are intended to be broadly applicable to different wirelesstechnologies, system configurations, networks, and transmissionprotocols, some of which are illustrated by way of example in thefigures and in the following description of the preferred aspects. Thedetailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of thedisclosure rather than limiting and the scope of the disclosure is beingdefined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

The techniques described herein may be used for various wirelesscommunication networks such as LTE, CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, OFDMA, SC-FDMA andother networks. The terms “network” and “system” are often usedinterchangeably. A CDMA network may implement a radio technology such asUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), cdma2000, etc. UTRA includesWideband CDMA (WCDMA) and other variants of CDMA. cdma2000 coversIS-2000, IS-95 and IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement aradio technology such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).An OFDMA network may implement a radio technology such as NR (e.g. 5GRA), Evolved UTRA (E-UTRA), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11(Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDMA, etc. UTRA andE-UTRA are part of Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS). NRis an emerging wireless communications technology under development inconjunction with the 5G Technology Forum (5GTF). 3GPP Long TermEvolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are releases of UMTS that useE-UTRA. UTRA, E-UTRA, UMTS, LTE, LTE-A and GSM are described indocuments from an organization named “3rd Generation PartnershipProject” (3GPP). cdma2000 and UMB are described in documents from anorganization named “3rd Generation Partnership Project 2” (3GPP2). Thetechniques described herein may be used for the wireless networks andradio technologies mentioned above as well as other wireless networksand radio technologies. For clarity, while aspects may be describedherein using terminology commonly associated with 3G and/or 4G wirelesstechnologies, aspects of the present disclosure can be applied in othergeneration-based communication systems, such as 5G and later, includingNR technologies.

Example Wireless Communications System

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communication system 100 in whichaspects of the present disclosure may be performed. For example,wireless communication system 100 may be a new radio (NR) or 5G network.Wireless communication system 100 may include user equipment (UEs) 120configured to determine a resource allocation pattern that defines firstresources, from a plurality of configured resource allocation patterns,for use in communicating. Wireless communication system 100 may includebase station (BS) 110 configured to perform complementary operations tothe operations performed by the UE 120. For example, BS 110 maydetermine a resource allocation pattern that defines resources, from theplurality of resource allocation patterns configured for the UE 120,wherein at least one of the plurality of configured resource allocationpatterns comprises a plurality of resource elements with at least afirst resource element associated with a first resource allocationrestriction and at least a second resource element associated with asecond resource allocation restriction, and provide an indication of theresource allocation pattern to the UE 120 and/or configure the UE 120with the resource allocation pattern(s). UE 120 and BS 110 maycommunicate according to the determined resource allocation pattern.

In general, any number of wireless networks may be deployed in a givengeographic area. Each wireless network may support a particular radioaccess technology (RAT) and may operate on one or more frequencies. ARAT may also be referred to as a radio technology, an air interface,etc. A frequency may also be referred to as a carrier, a frequencychannel, etc. Each frequency may support a single RAT in a givengeographic area in order to avoid interference between wireless networksof different RATs. In some cases, NR or 5G RAT networks may be deployed.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 , wireless communication system 100 may includea number of BSs 110 and other network entities. ABS may be a stationthat communicates with UEs. Each BS 110 may provide communicationcoverage for a particular geographic area. In 3GPP, the term “cell” canrefer to a coverage area of a Node B and/or a Node B subsystem servingthis coverage area, depending on the context in which the term is used.In NR systems, the term “cell” and gNB, Node B, eNB, 5G NB, AP, NR BS,transmission reception point (TRP), etc. may be interchangeable. In someexamples, a cell may not necessarily be stationary, and the geographicarea of the cell may move according to the location of a mobile basestation. In some examples, the base stations may be interconnected toone another and/or to one or more other base stations or network nodes(not shown) in wireless communication system 100 through various typesof backhaul interfaces such as a direct physical connection, a virtualnetwork, or the like using any suitable transport network.

A BS may provide communication coverage for a macro cell, a pico cell, afemto cell, and/or other types of cell. A macro cell may cover arelatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius)and may allow unrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. Apico cell may cover a relatively small geographic area and may allowunrestricted access by UEs with service subscription. A femto cell maycover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a home) and may allowrestricted access by UEs having association with the femto cell (e.g.,UEs in a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG), UEs for users in the home,etc.). A BS for a macro cell may be referred to as a macro BS. A BS fora pico cell may be referred to as a pico BS. A BS for a femto cell maybe referred to as a femto BS or a home BS. In the example shown in FIG.1 , the BSs 110 a, 110 b and 110 c may be macro BSs for the macro cells102 a, 102 b and 102 c, respectively. The BS 110 x may be a pico BS fora pico cell 102 x. The BSs 110 y and 110 z may be femto BS for the femtocells 102 y and 102 z, respectively. ABS may support one or multiple(e.g., three) cells.

Wireless communication system 100 may also include relay stations. Arelay station is a station that receives a transmission of data and/orother information from an upstream station (e.g., a BS 110 or a UE 120)and sends a transmission of the data and/or other information to adownstream station (e.g., a UE or a BS). A relay station may also be aUE that relays transmissions for other UEs. In the example shown in FIG.1 , a relay station 110 r may communicate with the BS 110 a and a UE 120r in order to facilitate communication between the BS 110 a and the UE120 r. A relay station may also be referred to as a relay BS, a relay,etc.

Wireless communication system 100 may be a heterogeneous network thatincludes BSs of different types, e.g., macro BS, pico BS, femto BS,relays, etc. These different types of BSs may have different transmitpower levels, different coverage areas, and different impact oninterference in the wireless communication system 100. For example,macro BS may have a high transmit power level (e.g., 20 Watts) whereaspico BS, femto BS, and relays may have a lower transmit power level(e.g., 1 Watt).

Wireless communication system 100 may support synchronous orasynchronous operation. For synchronous operation, the BSs may havesimilar frame timing, and transmissions from different BSs may beapproximately aligned in time. For asynchronous operation, the BSs mayhave different frame timing, and transmissions from different BSs maynot be aligned in time. The techniques described herein may be used forboth synchronous and asynchronous operation.

A network controller 130 may couple to a set of BSs and providecoordination and control for these BSs. The network controller 130 maycommunicate with the BSs 110 via a backhaul. The BSs 110 may alsocommunicate with one another, e.g., directly or indirectly via wirelessor wireline backhaul.

The UEs 120 (e.g., 120 x, 120 y, etc.) may be dispersed throughout thewireless communication system 100, and each UE may be stationary ormobile. A UE may also be referred to as a mobile station, a terminal, anaccess terminal, a subscriber unit, a station, a Customer PremisesEquipment (CPE), a cellular phone, a smart phone, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a wireless modem, a wireless communication device, ahandheld device, a laptop computer, a cordless phone, a wireless localloop (WLL) station, a tablet, a camera, a gaming device, a netbook, asmartbook, an ultrabook, a medical device or medical equipment, abiometric sensor/device, a wearable device such as a smart watch, smartclothing, smart glasses, a smart wrist band, smart jewelry (e.g., asmart ring, a smart bracelet, etc.), an entertainment device (e.g., amusic device, a video device, a satellite radio, etc.), a vehicularcomponent or sensor, a smart meter/sensor, industrial manufacturingequipment, a global positioning system device, or any other suitabledevice that is configured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium.Some UEs may be considered evolved or machine-type communication (MTC)devices or evolved MTC (eMTC) devices. MTC and eMTC UEs include, forexample, robots, drones, remote devices, sensors, meters, monitors,location tags, etc., that may communicate with a BS, another device(e.g., remote device), or some other entity. A wireless node mayprovide, for example, connectivity for or to a network (e.g., a widearea network such as Internet or a cellular network) via a wired orwireless communication link. Some UEs may be consideredInternet-of-Things (IoT) devices.

In FIG. 1 , a solid line with double arrows indicates desiredtransmissions between a UE and a serving BS, which is a BS designated toserve the UE on the downlink and/or uplink. A dashed line with doublearrows indicates interfering transmissions between a UE and a BS.

Certain wireless networks (e.g., LTE) utilize orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single-carrierfrequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDMpartition the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers,which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarriermay be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent inthe frequency domain with OFDM and in the time domain with SC-FDM. Thespacing between adjacent subcarriers may be fixed, and the total numberof subcarriers (K) may be dependent on the system bandwidth. Forexample, the spacing of the subcarriers may be 15 kHz and the minimumresource allocation (called a ‘resource block’ (RB)) may be 12subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Consequently, the nominal FFT size may beequal to 128, 256, 512, 1024 or 2048 for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5,5, 10 or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidth may alsobe partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz(i.e., 6 RBs), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8 or 16 subbands for systembandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10 or 20 MHz, respectively.

In some examples, access to the air interface may be scheduled, whereina scheduling entity (e.g., a BS) allocates resources for communicationamong some or all devices and equipment within its service area or cell.Within the present disclosure, as discussed further below, thescheduling entity may be responsible for scheduling, assigning,reconfiguring, and releasing resources for one or more subordinateentities. That is, for scheduled communication, subordinate entitiesutilize resources allocated by the scheduling entity.

BSs are not the only entities that may function as a scheduling entity.That is, in some examples, a UE may function as a scheduling entity,scheduling resources for one or more subordinate entities (e.g., one ormore other UEs). In this example, the UE is functioning as a schedulingentity, and other UEs utilize resources scheduled by the UE for wirelesscommunication. A UE may function as a scheduling entity in apeer-to-peer (P2P) network, and/or in a mesh network. In a mesh networkexample, UEs may optionally communicate directly with one another inaddition to communicating with the scheduling entity.

Thus, in a wireless communication network with a scheduled access totime-frequency resources and having a cellular configuration, a P2Pconfiguration, and a mesh configuration, a scheduling entity and one ormore subordinate entities may communicate utilizing the scheduledresources.

FIG. 2 illustrates example components of BS 110 and UE 120 illustratedin FIG. 1 , which may be used to implement aspects of the presentdisclosure. For a restricted association scenario, BS 110 may be themacro BS 110 c in FIG. 1 , and UE 120 may be the UE 120 y. BS 110 mayalso be a BS of some other type. BS 110 may be equipped with antennas234 a through 234 t, and the UE 120 may be equipped with antennas 252a-252 r. One or more components of BS 110 and/or UE 120 may be used topractice aspects of the present disclosure. For example, antennas 252,DEMOD/MOD 254 a-254 r, processors 266, 258, 264, and/orcontroller/processor 280 of the UE 120 and/or antennas 234 a-234 t,MOD/DEMOD 232 a-234 t, processors 260, 220, 238, and/orcontroller/processor 240 of BS 110 may be used to perform the operationsdescribed herein and illustrated with reference to FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 .

At BS 110, a transmit processor 220 may receive data from a data source212 and control information from a controller/processor 240. The controlinformation may be for the PBCH, PCFICH, PHICH, PDCCH, etc. The data maybe for the PDSCH, etc. The processor 220 may process (e.g., encode andsymbol map) the data and control information to obtain data symbols andcontrol symbols, respectively. The processor 220 may also generatereference symbols, e.g., for the PSS, SSS, and cell-specific referencesignal. A transmit (TX) multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) processor230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on the datasymbols, the control symbols, and/or the reference symbols, ifapplicable, and may provide output symbol streams to the modulators(MODs) 232 a-432 t. Each modulator 232 may process a respective outputsymbol stream (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream.Each modulator 232 may further process (e.g., convert to analog,amplify, filter, and upconvert) the output sample stream to obtain adownlink signal. Downlink signals from modulators 232 a-232 t may betransmitted via the antennas 234 a-234 t, respectively.

At UE 120, the antennas 252 a-252 r may receive the downlink signalsfrom BS 110 and may provide received signals to the demodulators(DEMODs) 254 a-254 r, respectively. Each demodulator 254 may condition(e.g., filter, amplify, downconvert, and digitize) a respective receivedsignal to obtain input samples. Each demodulator 254 may further processthe input samples (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain received symbols. AMIMO detector 256 may obtain received symbols from all the demodulators254 a-254 r, perform MIMO detection on the received symbols ifapplicable, and provide detected symbols. A receive processor 258 mayprocess (e.g., demodulate, deinterleave, and decode) the detectedsymbols, provide decoded data for the UE 120 to a data sink 260, andprovide decoded control information to a controller/processor 280.

On the uplink, at UE 120, a transmit processor 264 may receive andprocess data (e.g., for the PUSCH) from a data source 262 and controlinformation (e.g., for the PUCCH) from the controller/processor 280. Thetransmit processor 464 may also generate reference symbols for areference signal. The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may beprecoded by a TX MIMO processor 266 if applicable, further processed bythe demodulators 254 a-254 r (e.g., for SC-FDM, etc.), and transmittedto BS 110. At BS 110, the uplink signals from UE 120 may be received bythe antennas 234, processed by the modulators 232, detected by a MIMOdetector 236 if applicable, and further processed by a receive processor238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by UE 120. Thereceive processor 238 may provide the decoded data to a data sink 239and the decoded control information to the controller/processor 240.

The controllers/processors 240 and 280 may direct the operation at BS110 and UE 120, respectively. The processor 240 and/or other processorsand modules at BS 110 may perform or direct, e.g., the execution of thefunctional blocks illustrated in FIG. 8 , and/or other processes for thetechniques described herein. The processor 280 and/or other processorsand modules at the UE 120 may also perform or direct, e.g., theexecution of the functional blocks illustrated in FIG. 7 , and/or otherprocesses for the techniques described herein. The memories 242 and 282may store data and program codes for the BS 110 and the UE 120,respectively. A scheduler 244 may schedule UEs for data transmission onthe downlink and/or uplink.

Example NR/5G RAN Architecture

While aspects of the examples described herein may be associated withLTE technologies, aspects of the present disclosure may be applicablewith other wireless communications systems, such as new radio (NR) or 5Gtechnologies.

NR may refer to radios configured to operate according to a new airinterface (e.g., other than Orthogonal Frequency Divisional MultipleAccess (OFDMA)-based air interfaces) or fixed transport layer (e.g.,other than Internet Protocol (IP)). NR may utilize OFDM with a cyclicprefix (CP) on the uplink and downlink and include support forhalf-duplex operation using time division duplexing (TDD). NR mayinclude Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) service targeting widebandwidth (e.g. 80 MHz beyond), millimeter wave (mmW) targeting highcarrier frequency (e.g. 60 GHz or beyond), massive MTC (mMTC) targetingnon-backward compatible MTC techniques, and/or mission critical (MiCr)targeting ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) service.

A single component carrier bandwidth of 100 MHZ may be supported. NRresource blocks (RBs) may span 12 subcarriers with a subcarrierbandwidth of 75 kHz over a 0.1 ms duration. Each radio frame may consistof 50 subframes (or slots) with a length of 10 ms. Consequently, eachsubframe may have a length of 0.2 ms. Each subframe may indicate a linkdirection (i.e., downlink, uplink or sidelink) for data transmission andthe link direction for each subframe may be dynamically switched. Eachsubframe may include DL/UL data as well as DL/UL control data. UL and DLsubframes for NR may be as described in more detail below with respectto FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 .

Beamforming may be supported and beam direction may be dynamicallyconfigured. MIMO transmissions with precoding may also be supported.MIMO configurations in the DL may support up to 8 transmit antennas withmulti-layer DL transmissions up to 8 streams and up to 2 streams per UE.Multi-layer transmissions with up to 2 streams per UE may be supported.Aggregation of multiple cells may be supported with up to 8 servingcells. Alternatively, NR may support a different air interface, otherthan an OFDM-based interface. NR networks may include entities suchcentral units (CUs) or distributed units (DUs).

The NR radio access network (RAN) may include a CU and one or more DUs.A NR BS (e.g., referred to as a gNB, 5G Node B, NB, eNB, transmissionreception point (TRP), access point (AP), etc.) may correspond to one ormultiple BSs. NR cells can be configured (e.g., by the RAN) as accesscells (ACells) or data only cells (DCells). DCells may be cells used forcarrier aggregation or dual connectivity, but not used for initialaccess, cell selection/reselection, or handover. In some cases DCellsmay not transmit synchronization signals—in some case cases DCells maytransmit SS. NR BSs may transmit downlink signals to UEs indicating thecell type. Based on the cell type indication, the UE may communicatewith the NR BS. For example, the UE may determine NR BSs to consider forcell selection, access, handover, and/or measurement based on theindicated cell type.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example logical architecture of a distributed RAN300, according to aspects of the present disclosure. A 5G access node306 may include an access node controller (ANC) 302. ANC 302 may be a CUof the distributed RAN 300. The backhaul interface to the nextgeneration core network (NG-CN) 304 may terminate at ANC 302. Thebackhaul interface to neighboring next generation access nodes (NG-ANs)310 may terminate at ANC 302. ANC 302 may include one or more TRPs 308

TRPs 308 may be a DU. TRPs 308 may be connected to one ANC (e.g., ANC302) or more than one ANC (not illustrated). For example, for RANsharing, radio as a service (RaaS), and service specific ANDdeployments, the TRP may be connected to more than one ANC. A TRP mayinclude one or more antenna ports. TRPs 308 may be configured toindividually (e.g., dynamic selection) or jointly (e.g., jointtransmission) serve traffic to a UE.

The logical architecture of the distributed RAN 300 may supportfronthauling solutions across different deployment types. For example,the architecture may be based on transmit network capabilities (e.g.,bandwidth, latency, and/or jitter). The logical architecture of thedistributed RAN 300 may share features and/or components with LTE. Forexample, the NG-AN 310 may support dual connectivity with NR. NG-AN 310may share a common fronthaul for LTE and NR.

The logical architecture of distributed RAN 300 may enable cooperationbetween and among TRPs 308. For example, cooperation may be within a TRPand/or across TRPs via ANC 302. An inter-TRP interface may not bepresent.

The logical architecture of a distributed RAN 300 may include a dynamicconfiguration of split logical functions. For example, packet dataconvergence protocol (PDCP), radio link control (RLC) protocol, and/ormedium access control (MAC) protocol may be adaptably placed at ANC 302or TRP 308.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example physical architecture of a distributed RAN400, according to aspects of the present disclosure. A centralized corenetwork unit (C-CU) 402 may host core network functions. C-CU 402 may becentrally deployed. C-CU 402 functionality may be offloaded (e.g., toadvanced wireless services (AWS)), in an effort to handle peak capacity.A centralized RAN unit (C-RU) 404 may host one or more ANC functions.Optionally, C-RU 404 may host core network functions locally. C-RU 404may have distributed deployment. C-RU 404 may be located near thenetwork edge. DU 406 may host one or more TRPs. DU 406 may be located atedges of the network with radio frequency (RF) functionality.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a DL-centric slot 500.DL-centric slot 500 may include a control portion 502. The controlportion 502 may exist in the initial or beginning portion of DL-centricslot 500. The control portion 502 may include various schedulinginformation and/or control information corresponding to various portionsof DL-centric slot 500. In some configurations, the control portion 502may be a physical DL control channel (PDCCH), as shown in FIG. 5 .DL-centric slot 500 may also include a DL data portion 504. The DL dataportion 504 may be referred to as the payload of DL-centric slot 500.The DL data portion 504 may include the communication resources utilizedto communicate DL data from the scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS) tothe subordinate entity (e.g., UE). In some configurations, the DL dataportion 504 may be a physical DL shared channel (PDSCH).

DL-centric slot 500 may also include a common UL portion 506. The commonUL portion 506 may sometimes be referred to as an UL burst, a common ULburst, and/or various other suitable terms. The common UL portion 506may include feedback information corresponding to various other portionsof DL-centric slot 500. For example, the common UL portion 506 mayinclude feedback information corresponding to the control portion 502.Non-limiting examples of feedback information may include an ACK signal,a NACK signal, a HARQ indicator, and/or various other suitable types ofinformation. The common UL portion 506 may include additional oralternative information, such as information pertaining to random accesschannel (RACH) procedures, scheduling requests (SRs), and various othersuitable types of information. As illustrated in FIG. 5 , the end of theDL data portion 504 may be separated in time from the beginning of thecommon UL portion 506. This time separation may sometimes be referred toas a gap, a guard period, a guard interval, and/or various othersuitable terms. This separation provides time for the switch-over fromDL communication (e.g., reception operation by the subordinate entity(e.g., UE)) to UL communication (e.g., transmission by the subordinateentity (e.g., UE)). The foregoing is merely one example of a DL-centricslot and alternative structures having similar features may existwithout necessarily deviating from the aspects described herein.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of an UL-centric slot 600.UL-centric slot 600 may include a control portion 602. The controlportion 602 may exist in the initial or beginning portion of UL-centricslot 600. The control portion 602 in FIG. 6 may be similar to thecontrol portion 602 described above with reference to FIG. 6 .UL-centric slot 600 may also include an UL data portion 604. The UL dataportion 604 may sometimes be referred to as the payload of UL-centricslot 600. The UL portion may refer to the communication resourcesutilized to communicate UL data from the subordinate entity (e.g., UE)to the scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS). In some configurations, thecontrol portion 602 may be a physical UL shared channel (PUSCH).

As illustrated in FIG. 6 , the end of the control portion 602 may beseparated in time from the beginning of the UL data portion 604. Thistime separation may sometimes be referred to as a gap, guard period,guard interval, and/or various other suitable terms. This separationprovides time for the switch-over from DL communication (e.g., receptionoperation by the scheduling entity) to UL communication (e.g.,transmission by the scheduling entity). UL-centric slot 600 may alsoinclude a common UL portion 606. The common UL portion 606 in FIG. 6 maybe similar to the common UL portion 606 described above with referenceto FIG. 6 . The common UL portion 606 may additionally or alternativelyinclude information pertaining to channel quality indicator (CQI),sounding reference signals (SRSs), and various other suitable types ofinformation. The foregoing is merely one example of an UL-centric slotand alternative structures having similar features may exist withoutnecessarily deviating from the aspects described herein.

In some circumstances, two or more subordinate entities (e.g., UEs) maycommunicate with each other using sidelink signals. Real-worldapplications of such sidelink communications may include public safety,proximity services, UE-to-network relaying, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)communications, Internet of Everything (IoE) communications, IoTcommunications, mission-critical mesh, and/or various other suitableapplications. Generally, a sidelink signal may refer to a signalcommunicated from one subordinate entity (e.g., UE1) to anothersubordinate entity (e.g., UE2) without relaying that communicationthrough the scheduling entity (e.g., UE or BS), even though thescheduling entity may be utilized for scheduling and/or controlpurposes. In some examples, the sidelink signals may be communicatedusing a licensed spectrum (unlike wireless local area networks, whichtypically use an unlicensed spectrum).

Example Resource Allocation Patterns for Scheduling Services in aWireless Network

As described above, certain systems (e.g. such as wireless communicationsystem 100) may be new radio (NR) systems (e.g., configured to operateaccording a wireless standard, such as 5G)) that support variouswireless communication services such as, for example, enhanced mobilebroadband (eMBB) service targeting wide bandwidth (e.g. 80 MHz beyond),millimeter wave (mmW) service targeting high carrier frequency (e.g. 60GHz), massive machine type communications (mMTC) service targetingnon-backward compatible MTC techniques, and/or mission critical (MiCr)service targeting ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC).These services may be associated with latency and reliabilityrequirements, may be associated different transmission time intervals(TTI) to meet the quality of service (QoS) requirements. In addition,these services may co-exist in the same subframe

Latency in a network may refer to the amount of time for a packet ofdata to get from one point in the network to another point in thenetwork. In some example, URLLC (MiCr service) may target a latency of0.5 ms; eMBB may target 4 ms latency; and mMTC may target 10 seconds(e.g., for a 20 byte uplink application packet or 105 bytes at the PHYlayer with uncompressed IP headers) at 164 dB minimum coupling loss(MCL). Reliability in a network may refer to a probability ofsuccessfully transmitting X number of bytes within 1 ms at a certainchannel quality. For example, reliability for URLLC may target a blockerror rate (BLER) of 10⁻³.

Avoiding or minimizing the impact of interference between uplinktransmissions of reliable low latency services, are desirable to helpmeet the reliability and latency requirements when such services areoperating together on a wireless network. For example, it may bedesirable to protect resources used for URLLC transmissions,particularly in cases where uplink transmission between multiplewireless devices may not be easily punctured. Low-latency servicestypically need to be transmitted and received quickly as delays increasethe latency of the services. As uplink slots are typically assignedmultiple milliseconds in advance, it may be difficult to schedule orreschedule uplink assignments fast enough to adequately meet latencyrequirements (e.g., 0.5 ms). For example, where a different service(e.g., such as eMBB and/or mMTC) is multiplexed with URLLC, it isdesirable to reschedule the regular service whenever there is a URLLCtransmission. In the downlink direction, this can be achieved bypuncturing downlink eMBB data with URLLC, but on the uplink, the eMBBdata is typically scheduled ahead of time, so such dynamic puncturingmay be challenging.

For eMBB service scheduling, link efficiency may be important. If toomany resources are reserved for URLLC, less resources are available foreMBB service, which can result in inefficient resource usage. On theother hand, even if URLLC communications puncture eMBB services, thepunctured resources may be still subject to inter-cell interference fromother cells, which may make it difficult to meet the stringent QoStargets for URLLC service.

For mMTC scheduling or other services that use coverage enhancement(e.g., such as voice over Internet protocol (VoIP)), a single transportblock (e.g., packet) may have a time span (TTI) of multiple subframes(e.g., up to one second or longer). Such long-TTI transmissions, ifcontiguous, may cause inter-cell interference to other servicesincluding URLLC.

Accordingly, techniques for scheduling resource for different wirelesscommunication services in a wireless network, such as NR, are desirable.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide resource allocation patternsfor scheduling services, such as reliable low-latency services (e.g.,URLLC) and other services, in a wireless network, such as (NR (e.g., a5G network).

FIG. 7 is flowchart illustrating example operations 700 for wirelesscommunications, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure. Operations 700 may be performed, for example, by a UE (e.g.,UE 120). Operations 700 may begin at 702 by determining a resourceallocation pattern that defines resources, from a plurality ofconfigured resource allocation patterns, wherein at least one of theplurality of configured resource allocation patterns comprises aplurality of resource elements with at least a first resource elementassociated with a first resource allocation restriction and at least asecond resource element associated with a second resource allocationrestriction. At 704, the UE communicates based on the determinedresource allocation pattern.

FIG. 8 is flowchart illustrating example operations 800 for wirelesscommunications, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure. Operations 800 may be performed, for example, by a BS (e.g.,BS 110). Operations 8—may be complementary operations by the BS to theoperations 700 by the UE. Operations 800 may begin at 802 by determininga resource allocation pattern, from a plurality of configured resourceallocation patterns configured for a UE, that defines resource forcommunicating, wherein at least one of the plurality of configuredresource allocation patterns comprises a plurality of resource elementswith at least a first resource element associated with a first resourceallocation restriction and at least a second resource element associatedwith a second resource allocation restriction. At 804, the BS providesan indication to the UE of the resource allocation pattern to use forcommunicating. At 806, the BS communicates based on the determinedresource allocation pattern.

Example Resource Allocation Patterns

According to certain aspects, a plurality of different resourceallocations patterns may be defined and configured for the UE (e.g., aUE 120). One of the configured resource allocation patterns may beindicated for a UE (e.g., by a BS 110) to use for particularcommunications. The resource allocation patterns may define resourceallocation restrictions for different resource elements. As will bedescribed in more detail below, the resource allocation pattern mayindicate resources at a granularity of symbols, tones, resource blocks,etc. The resource allocation pattern may indicate resources that can beused or not used (e.g., ON/OFF) by the UE or can indicate various powerlevels that can be used for particular resources. The resourceallocation patterns may be semi-statically signaled, configured, ordynamically determined/signaled. Separate (e.g., different) resourceallocation patterns may be indicated for different services, differentsubframes, different UEs, different carriers, different channels, etc.For example, the resource allocation patterns may beselected/determined/signaled in order to minimize interference, forexample, to URLLC service, and/or interference, for example, from mMTCservice.

Example ON/OFF Resource Allocation Pattern

FIG. 9 , FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B illustrate example ON/OFF resourceallocation patterns at a symbol level granularity, in accordance withcertain aspects of the present disclosure. In FIG. 9 , FIG. 9A and FIG.9B, an 8-symbol resource allocation pattern is used. In aspects,resource allocation patterns may be defined for different durations(e.g., different numbers of symbols).

In FIG. 9 and FIG. 9B, the resource allocation patterns are defined atthe symbol-level granularity. The resource allocation patterns indicatesymbols that may be used by a UE for a particular communication andsymbols that are not allocated (e.g., excluded) for the UE to use forthat communication. This may be referred to as an ON/OFF resourceallocation pattern. As will be discussed in greater detail below,different resource allocation granularities may be used (e.g., tone,resource block, etc.) and different patterns may be used, for example,rather than an ON/OFF pattern, levels of usage may be defined forparticular resources in the resource allocation patterns.

In FIG. 9 , an example of a contiguous resource allocation pattern 900is shown where only contiguous symbols are allocated for use. In FIG. 9Aand FIG. 9B, examples of non-contiguous resource allocation patterns areshown (or hybrid contiguous and non-contiguous). In FIG. 9A, a 2-ON,1-OFF, resource allocation pattern 900A is illustrated. With thispattern, URLLC communications having a 1-symbol TTI may have protectedresources every three symbols (e.g., the OFF symbols). FIG. 9B showsanother example non-contiguous resource allocation pattern 900B having a2-ON, 2-OFF, resource allocation pattern. With this pattern, URLLCcommunications having a 2-symbol TTI can have two symbols of protectedresources every 4 symbols.

Although not shown in FIG. 9 , FIG. 9A and FIG. 9B, other ON/OFFresource allocation patterns may be defined/configured using differentcombinations of ON/OFF symbols, different numbers of symbols, transmittime intervals (TTIs), slots, subframes, etc., and/or different resourcegranularities (e.g., tone, RBs, etc.).

Example Usage-Level Resource Allocation Patterns

According to certain aspects, rather than (or in combination with) anON/OFF resource allocation pattern, a level of usage may be defined(e.g., determined, signaled, indicated, configured, etc.) for a resourceallocation pattern. The level of usage may be defined for variousgranularities (e.g., symbols, TTIs slots, subframes, tones, and/or RBs,etc.). The usage may be a power level that may be used by the UE for aparticular communications on the particular resource.

FIG. 10 and FIG. FIG illustrate example resource allocation patternsindicating power levels that may be used for the symbols in the resourceallocation pattern, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure. As shown in FIG. 10 , in one example resource allocationpattern 1000, two different power levels may be indicated for differentresources—a normal power level (e.g., unrestricted) or a restricted(e.g., reduced) power level. In the example resource allocation pattern1000, the UE may use the normal power level in two symbols, followed bya restricted power level in the next symbol.

As shown in FIG. 10A, in another example resource allocation pattern1000A, three different power levels may be indicated for differentresources—the normal power level (e.g., unrestricted), the restricted(e.g., reduced) power level, and a zero-power level (e.g., OFF). In theexample resource allocation pattern 1000A, the UE may use the normalpower level in two symbols, followed by a zero-power level in the nextsymbol, followed by a restricted power level in the next two symbols.

According to certain aspects, a resource allocation pattern may bedefined/configured that indicates power level usages for resources intwo dimensions (e.g., time and frequency). For example, resourceallocation patterns may be defined/configured that indicate power levelusage for different symbols and for different frequency resources (e.g.,tones) within the symbols. FIG. 10B illustrates an example resourceallocation pattern 1000B, in which two different power levels may beindicated for different resources—a normal power level (e.g.,unrestricted) or a restricted (e.g., reduced) power level. As shown inFIG. 10B, within in some symbols, certain frequency resources areindicated one usage level and other frequency resources are indicated adifferent usage level.

According to certain aspects, although not shown in FIG. 10 , FIG. 10Aand FIG. 10B, different combinations/patterns of usage levels, timeresources, and frequency resources may be defined/configured forresource allocation. For example, more than three power levels could beindicated for different resources. Also, different combinations ofsingle-dimensional and/or two-dimensional resources may be used for aresource allocation pattern with any combinations of resource usagelevels associated with the particular resources.

According to certain aspects, the resource usage levels (e.g., powerlevels) may be signaled to the UE, predetermined, and/or blindlydetected.

Example Resource Block Level Granularity Resource Allocation Patterns

As mentioned above, resource allocation patterns may bedefined/configured/indicated at various resource granularity levels.According to certain aspects, resource allocation patterns may bedefined at the resource block (RB) level. The resource allocationpattern may be defined per-subband, per-RB, or per-set of RBs toindicate RBs that may be used or not used (or levels of resource usage)for a particular communication. As illustrated in FIG. 11 , this mayalso be combined with symbol (or other time dimension resource) resourceallocation.

According to certain aspects, some RBs in some symbols may be reserved.Some RBs may be reserved for forward compatibility (e.g., blankresources). Some RBs may be semi-statically configured or reserved for aparticular service, such as mMTC communications. For example, an anchorRB may be defined for mMTC synchronization signals, informationtransmissions, etc.

Example Indication of Resource Allocation Pattern

According to certain aspects, an indication of the resource allocationpattern (e.g., a particular resource allocation of a plurality ofresource allocations configured for the UE) for the UE to use for aparticular communication may be provided. The indication may be providedvia a semi-static configuration (e.g., higher layer infrequent radioresource control (RRC) signaling), an activation/deactivation message,dynamic signaling, or a combination thereof.

In one example, the UE may be semi-statically configured, via higherlayers, with a set of defined resource allocation patterns (e.g., a setof four patterns). The configured resource allocation patterns may bedefined according to any of the resource allocation patterns describedabove (e.g., contiguous, non-contiguous, ON/OFF, usage levels,granularities, etc.) or other resource allocation patterns. The UE maythen be sent (e.g., by the BS) an indication (e.g., a 2-bit indicator inthe case of four configured resource allocation patterns) of whichresource allocation pattern in the configured set of defined resourceallocation patterns is to be used for a particular communication.

The indication of the resource allocation pattern to use for thecommunication may be provided in a control channel (e.g., broadcast,groupcast, or unicast) to indicate the resource allocation pattern for adata transmission that is scheduled by the control channel. As anotherexample, the UE may receive an activation message that activates theresource allocation pattern. In this case, the UE may use the resourceallocation pattern (e.g., indefinitely) for communications until a newresource allocation pattern is activated (e.g., by receiving anotheractivation message) or the current resource allocation pattern isreleased (e.g., by a deactivation message).

Example Selection/Determination of the Resource Allocation Patterns

As described above, different (e.g., a plurality or set of) resourceallocation patterns may be defined/configured for the UE. The UE may beconfigured with or signaled the defined resource allocation patterns andmay be indicated (e.g., configured or dynamically signaled) a particularone of the resource allocations patterns to use for a particularcommunication. According to certain aspects, the BS may determine/selectthe particular resource allocation pattern to indicate/configure the UEto use based on various parameters. For example, thedetermination/selection may be UE-dependent, uplink or downlinkdependent, component carrier dependent, service type dependent, TTIlength dependent, channel dependent, and/or subframe (slotconfiguration) dependent. According to certain aspects, separateindications of resource allocation patterns may be indicated/configuredfor different ones of the above parameters.

Example UE-Dependent Resource Allocation Patterns

According to certain aspects, the resource allocation pattern may beUE-dependent (e.g., selected based on and/or determined separately for).Transmissions to/from different UEs contributes various amount ofinter-cell interference. For example, a UE close to cell-center maycause little or minimal inter-cell interference in the uplink (even ifthe UE transmits continuous in the uplink). Thus, the resourceallocation pattern may be contiguous. Such a UE may be semi-staticallywith the particular resource allocation pattern. On the downlink, theinter-cell interference may be reasonable small if its downlinktransmission is subject to restricted power. Thus, a resource allocationpattern restricting the resource usage level may be used.

Alternatively, a UE at cell-edge may contribute inter-cell interferenceto other cells for its uplink and downlink transmissions. Similarly, itsdownlink traffic would also contribute inter-cell interference to othercells. In this case, a non-contiguous resource pattern may besemi-statically and/or dynamically indicated for such as UE.

Example Link-Dependent and/or CC-Dependent Resource Allocation Patterns

According to certain aspects, the resource allocation pattern may belink dependent. For example, the resource allocation patterns may beseparately managed (e.g., determined/selected/indicated/configured) fordownlink, uplink, or sideline.

Downlink and uplink may have different channel and interferencecharacteristics, different antenna patterns, different transmissionpower, etc. For the UE, downlink operations may be different than uplinkoperations. For example, the UE may be served by a different cell (orset of cells) on the downlink than on the uplink (e.g., in coordinatedmultipoint (CoMP) operation). Different cells may have differentuplink-downlink subframe configurations. Thus, interferencecharacteristics for communication with a UE may be quite different forthe downlink and uplink. Accordingly, different resource allocationpatterns may be determined (selected/indicated/configured/signaled) forthe uplink, downlink, and sidelink directions.

Similarly, the resource pattern may be separately configured fordifferent component carriers (CCs), which may also have different UL/DLsubframe configurations.

Example Service Type-Dependent and/or TTI Length-Dependent ResourceAllocation Patterns

According to certain aspects, the resource allocation pattern may bedependent on the service type and/or TTI length. The resource allocationpatterns may be managed separately for different types of services.

In one example, a first set of resource allocation patterns may bedefined and/or selected for eMBB service, a second set of patterns maybe defined and/or selected for URLLC service, and a third set ofpatterns may be defined and/or selected (and configured and/or signaled)for mMTC service.

In one example, the set of patterns for each service may be a functionof the TTI length of that service being scheduled. For example, for avery short TTI transmission (e.g., a few symbols), the resourceallocation pattern for that communication (e.g., service) may becontinuous (e.g., semi-statically configured); for a less short TTItransmission (e.g., 5-14 symbols), the resource allocation pattern maybe dynamically indicated from one of four patterns; and for a long TTItransmission (e.g., >14 symbols), the resource allocation pattern may bedynamically indicated from one of two patterns

Example Channel-Dependent Resource Allocation Patterns

According to certain aspects, resource allocation patterns may bechannel-dependent. The resource allocation patterns may be managedseparately for different types of channels. For example, a firstresource allocation pattern may be defined and/or selected (andconfigured and/or signaled) for a control channel, a second resourceallocation pattern may be defined and/or selected for eMBB PDSCH, and athird resource allocation pattern may be defined and/or selected forURLLC PDSCH, etc. Some channels (e.g., important channels, broadcastchannels, groupcast channels, etc.) may have different treatments. Forexample, PSS/SSS/PBCH/SIB/MIB (including bundled PSS/SSS/PBCH or otherSS) may have a resource allocation pattern that never skips any symbol.

Example Subframe-Dependent Resource Allocation Patterns

According to certain aspects, the resource allocation patterns may besubframe-dependent. The resource allocation patterns may be a functionof subframe indices. For example, certain services may be valid servicesmay be valid in a subset of subframes, thus, some resource allocationpatterns may be applicable only in the subset of subframes. URLLC may bepresent in a subset of subframes on a particular CC, thus some resourcepattern may be applicable only in the subset of subframes on the CC.

According to certain aspects, any combination of the above may beapplied for determining the resource allocation patterns for UEs.

The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions forachieving the described method. The method steps and/or actions may beinterchanged with one another without departing from the scope of theclaims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions isspecified, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may bemodified without departing from the scope of the claims.

As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of itemsrefers to any combination of those items, including single members. Asan example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c,a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any combination with multiples ofthe same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a, a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b,b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c or any other ordering of a, b, and c).

As used herein, the term “determining” encompasses a wide variety ofactions. For example, “determining” may include calculating, computing,processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in atable, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like.Also, “determining” may include receiving (e.g., receiving information),accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also,“determining” may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishingand the like.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. All structural andfunctional equivalents to the elements of the various aspects describedthroughout this disclosure that are known or later come to be known tothose of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein byreference and are intended to be encompassed by the claims. Moreover,nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the publicregardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in theclaims. No claim element is to be construed under the provisions of 35U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, unless the element is expressly recitedusing the phrase “means for” or, in the case of a method claim, theelement is recited using the phrase “step for.”

The various operations of methods described above may be performed byany suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions.The means may include various hardware and/or software component(s)and/or module(s), including, but not limited to a circuit, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or processor. Generally,where there are operations illustrated in figures, those operations mayhave corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components withsimilar numbering.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules and circuits describedin connection with the present disclosure may be implemented orperformed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor(DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD),discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration maycomprise a processing system in a wireless node. The processing systemmay be implemented with a bus architecture. The bus may include anynumber of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specificapplication of the processing system and the overall design constraints.The bus may link together various circuits including a processor,machine-readable media, and a bus interface. The bus interface may beused to connect a network adapter, among other things, to the processingsystem via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement thesignal processing functions of the PHY layer. In the case of a userterminal 120 (see FIG. 1 ), a user interface (e.g., keypad, display,mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus mayalso link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals,voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which arewell known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further.The processor may be implemented with one or more general-purpose and/orspecial-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors,microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuitry that can executesoftware. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implementthe described functionality for the processing system depending on theparticular application and the overall design constraints imposed on theoverall system.

If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or transmittedover as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium.Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, data, or anycombination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware,middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.Computer-readable media include both computer storage media andcommunication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of acomputer program from one place to another. The processor may beresponsible for managing the bus and general processing, including theexecution of software modules stored on the machine-readable storagemedia. A computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to a processorsuch that the processor can read information from, and write informationto, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may beintegral to the processor. By way of example, the machine-readable mediamay include a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by data,and/or a computer readable storage medium with instructions storedthereon separate from the wireless node, all of which may be accessed bythe processor through the bus interface. Alternatively, or in addition,the machine-readable media, or any portion thereof, may be integratedinto the processor, such as the case may be with cache and/or generalregister files. Examples of machine-readable storage media may include,by way of example, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, ROM (ReadOnly Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-Only Memory), EPROM (ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically ErasableProgrammable Read-Only Memory), registers, magnetic disks, opticaldisks, hard drives, or any other suitable storage medium, or anycombination thereof. The machine-readable media may be embodied in acomputer-program product.

A software module may comprise a single instruction, or manyinstructions, and may be distributed over several different codesegments, among different programs, and across multiple storage media.The computer-readable media may comprise a number of software modules.The software modules include instructions that, when executed by anapparatus such as a processor, cause the processing system to performvarious functions. The software modules may include a transmissionmodule and a receiving module. Each software module may reside in asingle storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices.By way of example, a software module may be loaded into RAM from a harddrive when a triggering event occurs. During execution of the softwaremodule, the processor may load some of the instructions into cache toincrease access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into ageneral register file for execution by the processor. When referring tothe functionality of a software module below, it will be understood thatsuch functionality is implemented by the processor when executinginstructions from that software module.

Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. Forexample, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or otherremote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared(IR), radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, andmicrowave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, asused herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc,digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray® disc where disksusually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce dataoptically with lasers. Thus, in some aspects computer-readable media maycomprise non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., tangible media).In addition, for other aspects computer-readable media may comprisetransitory computer-readable media (e.g., a signal). Combinations of theabove should also be included within the scope of computer-readablemedia.

Thus, certain aspects may comprise a computer program product forperforming the operations presented herein. For example, such a computerprogram product may comprise a computer-readable medium havinginstructions stored (and/or encoded) thereon, the instructions beingexecutable by one or more processors to perform the operations describedherein. For example, instructions for determining a maximum availabletransmit power of the UE, instructions for semi-statically configuring afirst minimum guaranteed power available for uplink transmission to afirst base station and a second minimum guaranteed power available foruplink transmission to a second base station, and instructions fordynamically determining a first maximum transmit power available foruplink transmission to the first base station and a second maximumtransmit power available for uplink transmission to the second basestation based, at least in part, on the maximum available transmit powerof the UE, the first minimum guaranteed power, and the second minimumguaranteed power.

Further, it should be appreciated that modules and/or other appropriatemeans for performing the methods and techniques described herein can bedownloaded and/or otherwise obtained by a user terminal and/or basestation as applicable. For example, such a device can be coupled to aserver to facilitate the transfer of means for performing the methodsdescribed herein. Alternatively, various methods described herein can beprovided via storage means (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage mediumsuch as a compact disc (CD) or floppy disk, etc.), such that a userterminal and/or base station can obtain the various methods uponcoupling or providing the storage means to the device. Moreover, anyother suitable technique for providing the methods and techniquesdescribed herein to a device can be utilized.

It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the preciseconfiguration and components illustrated above. Various modifications,changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation anddetails of the methods and apparatus described above without departingfrom the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for wireless communications, comprising:outputting higher layer signaling for semi-statically configuring aplurality of resource allocation patterns at a user equipment (UE),wherein each of the plurality of configured resource allocation patternsindicates a first one or more resources excluded for physical downlinkshared channel (PDSCH) communication with a base station (BS);outputting dynamic control signaling indicating at least one resourceallocation pattern of the configured plurality of resource allocationpatterns to use for communicating data with the BS; and communicatingdata with the UE based on the indicated at least one resource allocationpattern.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first one or moreresources are indicated at a resource level and at a symbol level. 3.The method of claim 1, wherein the higher layer signaling furtherindicates a time-domain pattern for the first one or more resources. 4.The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, based on the atleast one resource allocation pattern of the configured plurality ofresource allocation patterns, a second one or more resources availableto use for PDSCH communication with the UE.
 5. The method of claim 4,wherein the first one or more resources and the second one or moreresources are associated with different frequency resources in a samesymbol.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein the first one or moreresources is associated with a first symbol and the second one or moreresources is associated with a second symbol, and wherein the secondsymbol is different from the first symbol.
 7. The method of claim 1,wherein the indication of the at least one resource allocation patternof the configured plurality of resource allocation patterns is based onat least one parameter associated with a transmission.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the at least one parameter comprises a slotconfiguration for the transmission.
 9. The method of claim 7, whereinthe at least one parameter comprises at least one of: whether thetransmission is for uplink, downlink, or sidelink; a component-carrier(CC) used for the transmission; a subband used for the transmission; atransmission time interval (TTI) length of the transmission; a channelused for the transmission; a subframe used for the transmission; or alocation of the UE in a cell.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein the atleast one parameter comprises a service type for the transmission. 11.The method of claim 10, wherein the service type comprises at least oneof: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low latencycommunication (URLLC), mission critical (MiCr), or massive machine typecommunications (mMTC).
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein each of theplurality of resource allocation patterns defines a first transmit powerhigher for a third one or more resources and a second transmit power fora fourth one or more resources.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein theindicated resource allocation pattern is a UE-specific resourceallocation pattern.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein outputting thedynamic control signaling comprises outputting the dynamic controlsignaling via: a control channel; or a first activation messageindicating to use the resource allocation pattern until a secondactivation message or a release message is received.
 15. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the resource allocation pattern defines contiguousresources to use for the communicating.
 16. The method of claim 1,wherein the resource allocation pattern defines non-contiguous resourcesto use for the communicating.
 17. An apparatus for wirelesscommunications, comprising: at least one processor; and a memorycomprising computer executable code that, when executed by the at leastone processor, cause the apparatus to: output higher layer signaling forsemi-statically configuring a plurality of resource allocation patternsat a user equipment (UE), wherein each of the plurality of configuredresource allocation patterns indicates a first one or more resourcesexcluded for physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communication withthe apparatus; output dynamic control signaling indicating at least oneresource allocation pattern of the configured plurality of resourceallocation patterns to use for communicating data with the apparatus;and communicate data with the UE based on the indicated at least oneresource allocation pattern.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein thefirst one or more resources are indicated at a resource level and at asymbol level.
 19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the higher layersignaling further indicates a time-domain pattern for the first one ormore resources.
 20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the computerexecutable code, when executed by the at least one processor, furthercauses the apparatus to determine, based on the at least one resourceallocation pattern of the configured plurality of resource allocationpatterns, a second one or more resources available to use for PDSCHcommunication with the UE.
 21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein thefirst one or more resources and the second one or more resources areassociated with different frequency resources in a same symbol.
 22. Theapparatus of claim 20, wherein the first one or more resources isassociated with a first symbol and the second one or more resources isassociated with a second symbol, and wherein the second symbol isdifferent from the first symbol.
 23. An apparatus for wirelesscommunications, comprising: means for outputting higher layer signalingfor semi-statically configuring a plurality of resource allocationpatterns at a user equipment (UE), wherein each of the plurality ofconfigured resource allocation patterns indicates a first one or moreresources excluded for physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)communication with the apparatus; means for outputting dynamic controlsignaling indicating at least one resource allocation pattern of theconfigured plurality of resource allocation patterns to use forcommunicating data with the apparatus; and means for communicating datawith the UE based on the indicated at least one resource allocationpattern.
 24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the first one or moreresources are indicated at a resource level and at a symbol level. 25.The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the higher layer signaling furtherindicates a time-domain pattern for the first one or more resources. 26.The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising means for determining,based on the at least one resource allocation pattern of the configuredplurality of resource allocation patterns, a second one or moreresources available to use for PDSCH communication with the UE.
 27. Acomputer readable medium comprising computer executable instructionsthat, when executed by at least one processor of an apparatus, cause theapparatus to: output higher layer signaling for semi-staticallyconfiguring a plurality of resource allocation patterns at a userequipment (UE), wherein each of the plurality of configured resourceallocation patterns indicates a first one or more resources excluded forphysical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) communication with theapparatus; output dynamic control signaling indicating at least oneresource allocation pattern of the configured plurality of resourceallocation patterns to use for communicating data with the apparatus;and communicate with the UE based on the indicated at least one resourceallocation pattern.
 28. The computer readable medium of claim 27,wherein the first one or more resources are indicated at a resourcelevel and at a symbol level.
 29. The computer readable medium of claim27, wherein the higher layer signaling further indicates a time-domainpattern for the first one or more resources.
 30. The computer readablemedium of claim 27, wherein the computer executable instructions, whenexecuted by the at least one processor of the apparatus, further causethe apparatus to: determine, based on the at least one resourceallocation pattern of the configured plurality of resource allocationpatterns, a second one or more resources available to use for PDSCHcommunication with the UE.